Increasing Death Accidents Among Junior Military Officers Again

Analysis of Rep. Song Gap-seok's Status in the National Defense Committee Over the Past 5 Years
Junior Officers Including Sergeants and Second Lieutenants Account for 106 Personnel, 76%

Suicide incidents within the military have been rapidly increasing again. In particular, most of these suicides involve junior officers, highlighting the urgent need for improved treatment measures to secure junior officers.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the "Status of Military Suicides in the Last 5 Years (2018~June 2023)" submitted to National Assembly Defense Committee member Song Gap-seok by the Ministry of National Defense on the 5th, a total of 320 soldiers have taken their own lives.

Military suicides decreased significantly from 51 in 2018 and 59 in 2019 to 38 in 2020. However, the number rose again to 77 in 2021, then was 65 last year, and 30 up to June this year. By branch, the Army accounted for the most with 227 cases (71% of total suicides), followed by the Air Force with 47 (15%), the Navy with 38 (12%), and the Marine Corps with 8 (2%).

The problem lies with suicides among junior officers. By rank, non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and warrant officers accounted for the highest number with 139 cases (43%). Next were enlisted soldiers with 117 (37%), commissioned officers with 46 (14%), and civilian military personnel with 18 (6%). Looking specifically at junior NCOs such as Corporals and Sergeants, and junior officers such as Second Lieutenants and First Lieutenants, there were 106 cases, representing 76% of military officer suicides.

Assemblyman Song points out the urgent need to improve the treatment of junior officers, whose competition rates are steadily declining. Even looking at ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) recruitment, which accounts for 68% of Army Second Lieutenant commissions, the application competition rate dropped from 6.1 to 1 in 2014 to 2.6 to 1 last year, nearly halving. The situation is similar for NCOs, considered the backbone of the military. The competition rate for Army NCOs fell from 4.1 to 1 in 2019 to 2.9 to 1 last year. Although the military has operated 'NCO Departments' in cooperation with junior colleges since 2006 to secure excellent personnel, only about 30% of students commissioned as NCOs come from 34 universities nationwide, indicating waning popularity.

Junior officers are responsible for important tasks such as managing soldiers and field command, but there are criticisms that policy support such as low salaries and welfare benefits is inadequate. Economic problems and hardships caused by excessive workloads are cited as representative causes of suicide. Assemblyman Song predicts that if application rates continue to fall and suicide incidents increase, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces will not even be able to maintain the minimum number of personnel. With the military force expected to shrink to 500,000 by the end of this year, he emphasizes the need for measures targeting junior officers to reduce losses caused by the demographic cliff.

Assemblyman Song Gap-seok said, "Measures such as the Defense Help Call and military life counselors have limitations in addressing military suicides," adding, "Effective measures such as salary increases for junior officers, hardship management, and tailored counseling support must be prepared."

※ If you have difficult-to-talk-about concerns such as depression or know family or acquaintances experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline 1393, Mental Health Counseling 1577-0199, Hope Call 129, Lifeline 1588-9191, Youth Hotline 1388, the youth mobile counseling app ‘Da Deureojul Gae,’ KakaoTalk, and other channels.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.